United Nations General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman urged governments at COP31 to pair climate pledges with financing, highlighting a shortfall in adaptation support for developing countries, Anadolu Agency reported.
COP31 is the 31st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). EconoTimes previously covered Türkiye’s plans for the summit.
Speaking to reporters in Antalya on Wednesday, Rahman said warming was on track for 2.8 degrees Celsius, against the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree goal. He cited a 2025 record for global carbon emissions and said the previous 12 years were the warmest on record.
Rahman pointed to the Paris Agreement, the UAE consensus and the Taku Pakasoa Declaration as past milestones, and said COP31 should move pledges toward delivery. He said greenhouse gas emissions need to fall 45% by 2035.
Rahman said that reaching the emissions target requires renewable energy generation to triple, with about 1,200 gigawatts of capacity added each year. He cited the COP31 presidency’s 2035 priorities — electrification, sustainable buildings, green industry and zero waste — as ways to make national commitments investable.
Developing countries need up to $305 billion a year for climate adaptation but receive $26 billion, Rahman said. He said the shortfall leaves people unprotected and urged financing that does not create debt, more resources for the loss-and-damage fund, and allocations that account for environmental vulnerability as well as income.
Rahman also urged compensation for people in forest communities across the Amazon, Congo Basin and Bangladesh. He called for artificial intelligence and other modern tools to bring earlier warnings to remote populations and glacial zones.
Rahman said he plans to take COP31’s outcomes to the 2027 Sustainable Development Goals Summit.
